Barber trims St. Marys Lincolns

Goalie Will Barber trimmed the St. Marys Lincolns Thursday with a 30-save performance.

The rookie netminder’s stellar work helped the Sarnia Legionnaires cut down the Stone Town team 6-2 before almost 1,200 fans at the Brock Street barn.

With the victory – Sarnia’s third in a row – the Legion crew moved into a tie for third place in the nine-team Western Ontario Hockey Conference standings. They also climbed above the .500 mark for the first time this season, bringing their record to 6-5-1-1.

Despite the outcome, head coach Mark Davis was not pleased. “It was a sloppy game. I don’t think we played good,” he said. “There were bad passes and the decision-making was off. But good teams find a way to win and we did.”

If there was a bright spot, he continued, it was the play of his goalkeeper.

Barber felt his best save came in the third period. “There was a backdoor play and I sprawled across (to block the puck),” he recalled. But it was more than just his acrobatic play that made the difference. He also exhibited a quick glove hand and fine rebound control.

The 17-year-old netman now has a 2.98 goals-against average and a save percentage of 0.915 to go with three wins.

Barber was quick to praise his teammates, saying, “They bailed me out a few times. I had a lot of help tonight.”

He also believes stiff competition with fellow Legionnaires netminder Blair Coffin has made both him and Coffin better goalies.

Barber said the Legionnaires are beginning to find their groove. “We started the year slowly but we’re starting to pick things up. We’re gaining momentum.”

St. Marys started strongly, taking a 1-0 lead thanks to a goal by Dalton Smith. But Sarnia stuck back late in the opening frame with two goals in 14 seconds.

Zach Vanderwal got the first, breaking into the clear and making a nifty deke before depositing the rubber behind Lincs netminder Evan Morrison.

Moments later, Jarret Marks corralled a bouncing puck and lifted it into the cage to send the Legionnaires into the intermission with a lead they would not relinquish.

Over the next 40 minutes they scored four more times, with Joey Zappa, Brock Perry, captain Sam McCormack and Aaron Jamieson doing the honours. Perry also had two assists, as did Josh Barraclough.

In all, they outshot St. Marys 39-32.

The Legionnaires return to action Saturday when they travel to Strathroy to face the Rockets. They will host LaSalle next Thursday at Sarnia Arena, beginning at 7:10 p.m.